Night depository boxes and their construction are well known. Such depositories are used for the secure depositing of articles, such as envelopes or money bags, into a vault within a bank without the assistance of an attendant. The article is deposited within a receptacle in the depository when the depository door is opened and the article is ejected from the receptacle into the vault when the door is closed. The depository door and receptacle cooperate to prevent access to the vault when the door is in both its open and closed positions.
When the door of a typical depository is unlocked and pivoted open to deposit the article in the receptacle which pivots with the door, access to the chute remains blocked by the floor of the receptacle and a hinged wall attached thereto. When the door is pivoted shut the hinged wall ejects the article from the receptacle into the vault and moves to a position that separates the receptacle from the vault. The action of the receptacle floor and hinged wall during opening and closing of the door with interlocking ribs prevents a thief from inserting a line and hook into the vault by way of the receptacle to `fish out` the contents of the vault. Thus, a thief cannot gain access to the vault by merely defeating the door lock mechanism since the receptacle and hinged wall cooperate to block access to the vault.
Another feature of the typical depository is a detent mechanism that ensures the depository door is fully closed to eject the article from the receptacle once a deposit has been made and the closing motion has begun. This mechanism prevents someone from prematurely stopping the door closure motion and re-opening the door to remove the article from the receptacle before the hinged wall ejects the article from the receptacle into the vault.
The detent mechanisms previously known usually include springs, ratchet pawls, spring biased levers and other actively engaged mechanical components to stop the reverse motion of the mechanical component, such as a cam or link arm, that controls the motion of the door. Such detent mechanisms are more difficult to produce, sometimes jam since intermeshing mechanical parts are required and are more costly to construct because the mechanism components need careful alignment for reliable and effective operation. What is needed is a simple, yet reliable, door detent mechanism that requires few interacting parts and can be produced inexpensively.
Another problem with known bank depositories having a pivotable wall to eject the contents of the depository into the vault is the noise produced by their operation. The article-ejecting wall is attached, usually by means of a hinge or the like, to the end of the receptacle floor outboard from the door. When the door is closed, the receptacle floor tilts downwardly from the door and the pivotable wall is substantially perpendicular to the floor so the wall substantially covers the opening from the receptacle to the vault. When the hinged wall pivots toward the depository door as the depository door is pivoted open, the unattached end of the wall falls until it impacts the floor or bottom of the depository receptacle with a noticeable bang. This noise can alert a thief hiding out of sight nearby that a deposit is being made so the thief can surprise the depositor and forcibly take the article before the depositor closes the depository door. What is needed, therefore, is the elimination of this noise, which occurs when the pivotable wall impacts the receptacle floor.